Image: PGL

After disappointing performances in the Group Stage, the Chinese teams bounced back to start the Playoffs.

The Dota 2 Clavision: Snow Ruyi Invitational Playoffs kicked off on Thursday (August 1) with the upper bracket quarterfinals and the first round of the lower bracket being played. After falling flat to their foreign counterparts in the Group Stage, the Chinese teams finally bounced back to give their home crowd something to cheer for.

In the upper bracket quarterfinals, LGD Gaming and Xtreme Gaming defeated Nigma Galaxy and Natus Vincere (NAVI), respectively, to advance to the upper bracket semifinals. Meanwhile, Virtus.pro (VP) and Team Zero became the first teams to be eliminated from the tournament after falling to Talon Esports and Azure Ray in the first round of the lower bracket.

Here's how all the action on day one of the Clavision: Snow Ruyi Invitational played out:

Upper bracket quarterfinals

LGD Gaming 2-1 Nigma Galaxy

The first series of the day saw LGD halt the surge of a Nigma Galaxy squad that overperformed in the Group Stage despite fielding two stand-ins in Daniel "Ghost" Chan and Ivan "OneJey" Zhivitsky for Amer “Miracle” Al-Barkawi and Kuro “Kuroky” Takhasomi. Adding more drama to this match was the fact that it had to be played on the newly-released 7.37 patch.

LGD started the series strong by bulldozing through Nigma in 38 minutes of action, even doubling up their opponents in kills, 33-16. Nigma then bounced back by dominating the 43-minute game two to the tune of a 40-12 kill lead behind a stellar performance from Sumail “SumaiL” Hassan, who notched 16 kills and 18 assists on just two deaths as a mid Rubick.

However, LGD were quick to shake off their game two loss to shut the door on Nigma in game three on the backs of Guo “shiro” Xuanang and Xu “Echo” Ziliang. Shiro on a carry Dragon Knight paced LGD's 33-16 kill lead with 11 kills and 15 assists on just one death while Echo on his mid Timbersaw pitched in with 10 kills and nine assists against two deaths.

Xtreme Gaming 2-1 Natus Vincere

The second match of the day also went to a full three games as Xtreme overcame NAVI. Wang “Ame” Chunyu on Ursa led the Chinese squad in claiming the first game of the series in just under 47 minutes, putting up 12 kills and 12 assists on four deaths to fuel his team's 31-24 kill lead.

NAVI then struck back in a one-sided game two, where Sukhbat “sanctity-” Otgondavaa shone on Ember Spirit had nine kills and 16 assists on just one death in the 38-minute rout. However, a perfect 11-kill, five assists game for Ame on Morphling in a 41-minute rollercoaster of a deciding game meant that it was Xtreme that came out with the 2-1 series victory.

Lower bracket round 1

Talon Esports 2-0 Virtus.pro

The first elimination match of the Playoffs saw Talon shake off a winless run through the Group Stage by soundly sweeping VP, 2-0, out of the tournament.

Rafli “Mikoto” Rahman's Outworld Destroyer led Talon to victory in an action-packed game one, where he recorded 13 kills and 16 assists on five deaths to pace his team's 37-21 kill lead. Talon didn't let up in game two, where they racked up 42 kills in just 24 minutes while only conceding seven deaths.

Eljohn “Akashi” Andales on a carry Marci led the way in the closeout game, putting up 13 kills and 15 assists on one death. Mikoto on Ember Spirit and Chung “Ws” Wei Shen on an offlane Dragon Knight also notched a clean 11 kills apiece while also combining for 30 assists.

Azure Ray 2-0 Team Zero

The day then ended with one of the most one-sided matches in the history of pro Dota 2 as Azure Ray booted Team Zero out of the tournament in a combined 42 minutes of game time where they recorded 43 total kills and only conceded seven deaths.

Azure Ray won game one in just 20 minutes and with a 21-1 kill lead, with Zeng “Ori” Jiaoyang on Storm Spirit leading the way with eight kills and assists apiece while Lin “planet” Hao notably three kills and 10 assists against the team's only death in the stomp.

Team Zero put up a better fight in game two, though that's not saying much as they only managed to inflict six deaths on Azure Ray before conceding the series. Lou “Lou" Zhen on Ursa paced his team's kill count of 22 in the closeout game with a perfect eight-kill, three-assist performance while Ori on Puck pitched in with a clean four kills and six assists.

With the day's results, LGD and Xtreme have secured themselves at least a Top 6 finish as well as $31,250 in winnings. The upper bracket semifinals will next see LGD face Team Spirit and Xtreme take on G2.iG.

Talon and Azure Ray also guaranteed themselves at least 7th-8th place as well as $26,250. They will continue fighting for their tournament lives in the second round of the lower bracket against Nigma and NAVI.

Finally, VP and Team Zero exit the tournament in 9th-10th place and with $17,500 in consolation.

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Chinese teams bounce back to open Clavision: Snow Ruyi Playoffs as VP, Team Zero go home